This invention relates to bread. More particularly, the invention relates to bread made from white wheat flour. Still more particularly, the invention relates to such bread having magnesium added to restore at lease some of the magnesium lost from the wheat during processing to white flour. Still more particularly, the invention relates to such bread having good commercial quality and taste.
It has been known for many years that the amount of essential nutrients naturally occurring in wheat is reduced when white flour is extracted during the milling process. Extensive studies have been made which show precisely which nutrients are removed and in what amounts. Some of these nutrients are frequently added to the bread during dough making to provide a bread at least approaching the nutritional value of a whole wheat bread. While such additions have been very successful, there remain some problems and one in particular concerning magnesium. Magnesium is an essential nutrient and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) recommended adult daily allowance (U.S. RDA, hereafter referred to as RDA) is 400 milligrams (mg.). Bread made from whole wheat includes about 37% of RDA or about 148 mg. in a six-ounce serving. Standard white bread, however, includes only about 7% of RDA or 28 mg. Thus, over 80% by weight of the magnesium naturally occurring in wheat is removed by milling. We have tried to add magnesium, in the form of conventional food-grade additives, such as food-grade magnesium carbonate, and have found that there is an unacceptable bitter taste when the level of added magnesium is about 45 mg. or higher per six-ounce bread serving. Accordingly, in standard white bread, we have been unable to add as much as about 15% of magnesium RDA for a total of magnesium in such bread of only about 22% of the RDA (7% contribution from the white flour). The fact that magnesium is difficult to add to cereal grain products has also been recognized by others. In the Federal Register of Friday, Jun. 14, 1974, at page 20898, it is reported by the F.D.A. that the Committee on Food Standards and Fortification Policy of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council concluded that whole cereal grains contribute to the diet significant amounts of essential nutrients including magnesium. However, the Commissioner accepted the recommendation that magnesium be listed only as an optional additive until the technical feasibility of adding the specified amounts has been established. Thus, the Commissioner gave express acknowledgement of technical difficulty in incorporating significant levels of magnesium in cereal grain products.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bread made from white flour and having a magnesium content up to that which naturally occurs in whole wheat bread. It is a further object to provide such bread having the qualities of a commercial, standard white bread.